Human rights lawyer prevented from going to France to take part in Al-Jazeera programme

Human rights lawyer Mohammed Abbou was prevented from leaving Tunisia today for the fourth time since his release from prison in 2007. This time, immigration police said he lacked documentary proof that his period of conditional release was over. Abbou had intended to fly to France to participate in a live broadcast for the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al-Jazeera. “After journalist Sihem Bensedrine, who tried twice in August without success to catch a flight to Austria, now it is Mohammed Abbou's turn to be denied the freedom of movement,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The Universal Declaration of Human Rights says everyone has the right to freedom of movement, and the right to leave and return to their own country. But venturing on to the Tunis-Carthage airport tarmac has become an ordeal for dissidents in Tunisia.” Abbou was supposed to have taken an Air France flight to Paris in response to an Al-Jazeera invitation to take part tomorrow in its “Live with...” programme, which is broadcast at 1800 GMT. “My period of conditional release ended in August,” he told Reporters Without Borders. “The authorities can no longer use that excuse to stop me leaving the country. Instead of clearly announcing that I am banned from going abroad, the immigration police prefer to win time by inventing a new pretext.” Abbou was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in 2005 after a sham trial in which he was convicted of an alleged assault in 2002 as well as spreading “false information” on the Internet. Jailed in March 2005, he was finally granted early release from Kef prison (170 km southwest of Tunis) on 24 July 2007. Since then, he has been defending political prisoners, including journalist Slim Boukhdir, jailed in November 2007.